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PETALING JAYA: English language teachers should not fear getting their level of proficiency assessed, said National Union of the Teaching Profession Secretary-General Lok Yim Pheng.

"Teachers must not think that the tests are administered in find fault with them," she commented on the Cambridge Placement Test (CPT) and Pedagogy Standards for English Language Teaching test online.

Starting from May, all English language teachers in schools are required to sit for the test.

Lok said that all agreed that the test should be carried out as the module on the continuous development for teachers will be based on the outvome pf these assessments.

"If we want to improve the standard of English among students, there is no other way but to make sure that teachers are proficient in English," said Lok.

Education Ministry Deputy Director-general (Teacher Development Professionlism) Datuk Dr.Khair Mohamad Yusof said teachers would be placed at different bands or Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) levels according to their scores from CPT.

"Teachers should aim to achieve a minimum of band C1 (effective proficiency) in their CPT results. Those who are placed along bands B1 dan B2 (scores of less than 75) will be sent for retrainning courses," said Dr.Khair Mohamad.

Malaysian English Language Teaching Association president Dr.Ganakumaran Subramaniam suggested that teachers be provided with specific feedback on their CPT scores.

"Teachers may not be able to know which area they are weak in from their overall CPT scores. It would be better if teachers receive a break-down of their scres so that they can improve," said Dr.Ganakumaran.